Time Management for Writers with Day Jobs
By Sherry Dee Morris
I have been writing since 1999. I was a full-time wife and mother from 1999 until 2009. I had a full-time job outside the home from 2009 until 2011. I did not write when I was working outside the home. I worked twelve and a half hour shifts in a busy hospital emergency room. I went to work in the dark, came home, ate dinner, tucked everyone in, including myself, got up and did it all over again. I worked 60+ hours per week plus I volunteered on a rescue squad once a week. No time for writing. Not much time for family. No time for friends. Then my mother passed in December. I spent the holidays and weekends at work, grieving for Momma and Daddy (who's estate I had just settled three days before losing mom), missing my family terribly. I resigned. I went inactive with the rescue squad.
If you are employed with regular normal hours, with time at home before or after work every day and weekends and holidays off, I do think you can balance work and writing. Just make sure you don't shut out your family and friends. Never literally close the door to your children. Especially your 'tweens. I tried that and there were devastating results. Lesson learned and everyone is happy now.
Learn to write when everyone is otherwise occupied, even if this means they are sleeping. If you are married, just make sure you get up earlier in the morning to write. Always go to bed when your husband does. Pillow talk and romance are much more important than your manuscript. If he's not home, by all means, tuck in the little ones and write.
Okay, biggest suck of writing time: your computer. Set a timer and allow only 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening to check your email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Seriously. Pull away from your online presence and those addictive games and online shopping. You can always go back to them once your book is sold… Until you get your edits.
Another big suck of writing time: eating out. That's why Rival invented the Crock Pot. If you don't have one, run out to Target or Wal*Mart or Macy's and buy one. Also pick up two slow cooker cook books. Don't waste time surfing the net for recipes.
Set a realistic writing goal. If you can write every day, or most days, make your goal to write one hour or ten pages or whatever you can and want to do. I am beginning a new manuscript tomorrow. I plan to write 7 to 10 pages per day five days a week, taking weekends off to spend with my family. I'll write either when they are gone during the day, or after I tuck the little ones in, when hubs is traveling for work. I will have the first draft of a 100,000 word manuscript written in eight weeks. Yep.
When you are writing your first draft, just keep writing. Don't go back and read what you've written and edit it. Just keep writing. Allow yourself to write crap. Crap can be rewritten into snappy prose. A blank page cannot. Besides, sometimes what you think is crap at the time, can turn out to be your cleverest scenes. So just write them.
What about your house and errands and weight?
What has to get done errand-wise will. When you've got a break at work, do some planning for the week. Your menu. Bring the cookbooks, coupons and your local grocery ad to work with you. Plan out your errands.
Get a calendar that you can take with you. I like my spiral bound planner. If you are an electronic gal, use your PDA or cell phone or Blackberry or print one off the net. Make sure your whole family's schedule is included and updated. This is critical.
As far as your house goes, there are some tasks that have to get done, so they will. The laundry, the dishes and the bathrooms. Deep clean your tub/shower as soon as possible. If you can't get all the soap scum/mold/mildew/hard water stains cleaned, find someone who can. If there is a big strong he-man in your life, persuade him to do it. Or your momma or your sister or whomever is strong and a perfectionist. If you don't know anyone like this, hire one of the maid services for a one time deep cleaning.
Now, this is important: Every time you or someone else takes a shower or bath, they are to dry themselves then dry the shower and tub. It takes one minute, tops. If you do this religiously, it will never get gross again. Clean the toilets and sinks twice a week.
My laundry room is off the kitchen, so I sort laundry and clean up the kitchen while the kids are eating breakfast or a missed meal. This way I can catch up with what's important in their days while multitasking. Instead of sitting down and snacking myself.
As far as exercise, pick one day a week where you've got at least an hour to schedule deep cleaning your house. Vacuuming, sweeping and mopping are cardio. Making beds, dusting and laundry are great for stretching and isometrics.
Find fifteen minutes a day to pick up and declutter. You'll be amazed at how much you can clear away, and the instant gratification will lighten your mood.
So, clean your bathrooms, get a crock pot and a calendar and schedule your life for the next three weeks. You will establish a routine. You will accomplish a lot.
I dare you to do it all.
Because you can.
